Thiago is the reason Liverpool will retain the Premier League

Thiago Alcantara has cemented himself as the new Liverpool fan favourite.

Apart from this transfer window, it has been difficult for Liverpool to attract superstar quality such as Thiago Alcantara.

For over a decade, Liverpool has been the club used by players to catapult their career to the next level. Luis Suarez did it successfully and Philippe Coutinho (not so successfully) did just that, and fact of the matter is, you couldn’t blame them much for wanting to move on at that point in time.

But over the recent past, we’ve come a long way and Liverpool are currently the club to play for. Transfer rumours linking us to Kalidou Koulibaly and Kylian Mbbape just show how far we’ve come. If that does not convince you, then the signing of Thigao should.

Thiago Alcantara has been an atypical signing that FSG has made. They usually invest in young players that have the potential to explode. However, they made an exception and brought in a 29- year-old seasoned winner, who is a player that can shoulder the role of a pseudo captain on and off the pitch.

Liverpool managed to convince him to overlook a lucrative contract extension at Bayern Munich. Now we have a classy, creative, modest and hardworking midfielder in his prime days lining up as our new #6.

What is even more brilliant is the structure of the deal. Liverpool will be paying £5 million per year for him for, which over a period of time will literally seem like nothing for a player of his quality, style and class.

Thigao brings a certain amount of spark in an otherwise hard working and relatively flat midfield. Not taking anything away from the current set of midfielders, but in terms of individual passing range and ability, they lack bite.

Until now most of the creativity came from the full-backs and with the fact that Roberto Firmino drops deep and unlocks space for Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. Thiago gives the opposition managers a lot more to think about.

From the perspective of where will Thiago fit in, I believe that the current set of midfielders are highly functional but lack creativity in the final third. They destroy the opposition given their stamina and tremendous industry.

Whether Klopp changes the formation or not, we will have to wait and watch. However, if we go by his history, he is not a manager who makes a lot of changes to his set up.

But given the signing of Thiago, he will be most likely be deployed as a deep lying playmaker in a midfield three.

This is why, against the top sides, we may see Fabinho partnering Virgil van Dijk at center half. In such a setup, given Thiago’s passing range, the whole team can press higher and allow the defense to hold a higher line.

Against the lesser teams that sit deep and defend with 10 men, he might play further up in a #10 role behind Roberto Firmino. That is where we might see Klopp switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation. We all are licking are lips at the possibility of a cheeky no-look pass by Thiago followed by a no-look finish by our #9, aren’t we?

On debut against Chelsea he showed us what he was capable of. Breaking the record of the most passes by a player in 45 minutes (75 successful passes), we knew we had someone who could pull the strings in midfield. He brought his entire repertoire of passing range with cheeky no-look passes, aerial balls and diagonals which switched play.

He was probably the only player who would fit into the role that Klopp was looking for. We certainly can brace ourselves to see Liverpool play even more attractive and attacking football.

However, my personal opinion is that Thigao’s main job is ensuring that the squad keeps their head on their shoulders. He knows what it takes to win back to back titles. He is by far the most accomplished player in the Liverpool dressing room. He will be the player that will help translate Klopp’s words into actions on the pitch.

So, to sum everything up, we’ve signed Thiago, Thiago Alcantara!!!